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Wow. It’s been a minute since my last confession, er post. So long in fact that WP has made some significant changes to the layout for basic service folks such as myself. One of the things that I’ve done over the past few months was think about making a financial commitment and moving up to a Personal or Premium plan. Maybe after my next game.

Which brings me to…

The Next Game

My next game sits squarely at the top of my list. While the demands of Real Life™ keep me occupied, on most days I manage to push forward in some way on that subject. The short answer is, I’m working on a new title now, but it won’t be finished before the end of the year. The product looks really solid. I’m just not ready to do the teaser thing yet.

I can confirm that it will be several times larger than Acts of Liberty.

Where Did The Year Go?

After production on AoL wrapped in February, I had planned to take a month off to rest, and then load up my schedule with new game candidates. Looking back, my plans were overly ambitious.

In March I worked on two different Prototype series titles: one was planned for a fall release, a Halloween game. The second would be released early next year.

April made room for a stand-alone game I fell in love with that was to be completed by summer. Somehow.

In May I scheduled myself to write the Kickstarter for a new series title that utilized a one page system, inspired by Craig Cartmell’s Dead Simple rules. This was abandoned.

In June I worked on Prototype Gen 2, and two new titles that would employ those rules.

July was my down time. I organized files and prioritized my catalog.

August was when I made the move to Scribus from Apache Open Office Writer. To practice, I worked on layouts for no less than three new games.

Fonts, titles, intros. Wash, rinse, repeat.

In September I worked on yet another game in Scribus.

October saw me picking up where I left off on my Halloween title that I started in back in May. I wasn’t going to make that Kickstarter launch date.

By November, I had selected my new game system and had solid templates in Scribus.

What’s Ahead?

I’ve been in production on the same title for about a month, which is a really good sign. Like I said, I feel good about it. Also an artist has caught my eye. She’s outstanding. I’ll contact her after I hit the first playtest milestone. But first I need to write more pages.

I may very well be on a two year development cycle per game. Which is fine by me.

I’ve always envisioned Acts of Liberty as a stand-alone game set in an alternate history. From the beginning, it was intended as a proof-of-concept for the Prototype System, a rules-light tabletop storytelling framework that was developed concurrently to power and showcase the first in a series of games. This companion to Acts of Liberty serves as a chronicle to the many features, design choices, and insights that I made along the way.

Near Zero Production Cost

The two year development of Acts of Liberty was in part due to the design of the Prototype System. From the outset, a hallmark of development was to achieve a very low production cost and yield the best playability, which I felt was accomplished. Besides my time spent on the project, which was a cost that would be recompensed in aggregate through sales of the games that used the system, I stayed within my budgetary limits to strike an artistic balance that would both complement the product, and fit within the scope of the medium. I knew that the sales of the game itself would never recoup an investment in art assets; this was a hard reality that I had to accept early on. Therefore, my philosophy behind the Prototype System has been to offer great games that cost next to nothing to make.

Space Limitations

During development of Prototype, I arrived at the question, “when does one make the decision to roll additional game features into the next iteration of the system?”

At first, a generic answer seemed to be unknowable, as it relied on specific variables that would be different with each situation. The analogue in software design was feature creep, but what additional features could I include, and more importantly, what would it affect?

Let me back up a bit. Once I decided on the general sequence of gameplay, I plotted the layout of the game. I knew that page one would be the cover and page two would be the credits, table of contents, and game and system introductions. I also knew that starting on page three, the rules would spread out for five pages to address every aspect of gameplay from the beginning to the end. Then, an additional four more pages would be needed for the necessary game charts. That brought the page count to 11. About four months before the game was published, the first playtest uncovered a major sub-system rewrite along with numerous clarifications. Overall, however, the product was sound.

And — most importantly — Acts of Liberty was fun.

Now. I was also aware of the minimum page count for a hardcopy in order to bring the game into the physical world. Depending on where you shop, that threshold is 18 pages. The crown jewel of that being an ISBN. Marching headlong toward that lofty achievement was completely outside the development plan, as it hadn’t been budgeted for and would surely push back the publication date even further. But it was very attractive. To achieve that goal, the game would need seven more pages that were filled with necessary game content that justified their inclusion. Also, if you’ve ever looked closely at the last page of an rpg book, not counting the appendix, index or charts, it’s mostly full. No one in their right mind uses less than half of the last page.

Oh, sure. There were a number of tricks that I could employ to inflate the page count. I could widen the gutter and increase the font size for the titles and body which would disrupt a finely-tuned balance. I could upgrade the block quote graphics. All of these solutions, which might work for someone else felt disingenuous to me, and didn’t offer more than a slight page gain; a half column at best. A more substantial fix would be to add art elements to break up the text. That particular option was one that I had given a lot of serious thought to. However, the pages were already full of text, so where would the art go? Further, whatever art I did include would have to fit within a minimalist aesthetic. Yet, even art assets would only get me so far. The only responsible way to increase the page count was to simply add more game.

Which was interesting because, shortly after the first playtest, I had come back to my lingering question about the inclusion of additional game system features, above and beyond what was required to play the game. That’s the point when I was ready to learn the next lesson of game design:

“The mechanic must reflect the narrative.”

Inspired by the simplicity of this mantra, I would go back through the entire game to ensure that each part was in fact necessary and complimented both the setting and the narrative. I worked hard to polish every section to increase its clarity and effectiveness, a side-effect was a reduction of the space it required. In the end, it turned out that 11 pages was exactly what was needed; every page was full top to bottom with game.

During my time of exploration into the expansion of the book with more game features, I designed mechanisms and resources that would add content and increase replayability:

4 new world blueprint charts with characters, terrains, incursions, and judgments.

4 new world blueprint charts with names, locations, organizations, and conclusions.

Additional rules to integrate the new world blueprint charts.

Character sheets to track narratives, story elements, and tokens.

For a few reasons, my gut told me the expanded content should be left out. Acts of Liberty worked just fine without the bonus materials. The expanded content would eventually be made available as an add-on product sold separately, included in an anthology of other games I had yet to write, or become part of the next version of Prototype.

Either way, I had found the answer I’d been searching for.

Page One

An early plan was to commission a cover illustration or use photographic elements to capture the imagination. As I’ve said, Prototype was never conceived as an art-heavy line. It’s minimalistic by design to keep costs down, and an overly produced piece of art for the cover and simple graphics in the interior seemed at odds with each other.

I still needed a cover. Then, right around that time, The Purge: Election Year hit theatres, and the movie poster gave me an idea.

Acts of Liberty was written with Apache Open Office. The title text, page and chart headers used the Cloister Black font by Dieter Steffmann; the cover text was rendered using a simple shadow. The red stripes represented the four different acts, and the stars and background were flipped to give it an off-kilter feel; something familiar was askew. A variation of this theme appears at the top of each page. The Prototype System logo used the Leander font by Tension Type in red. The body text used the Libre Baskerville font by Pablo Impallari, and lastly, the chart body used the Franklin Gothic font by Morris Fuller Benton.

Page Two

The game opens with the credits, table of contents, a thematic introduction, and a general introduction to gameplay and the Prototype System. Due to the aforementioned space limits, many of the sources and inspirations didn’t make it into the book. After several rewrites and an expanded table of contents, I had to trim the credits down to the minimum. I’ve reviewed my notes and have listed those references below:

The film The Patriot by Roland Emmerich

The film The Star Chamber by Peter Hyams

Shay’s Rebellion

The Great Compromise of 1787

The US Constitution: An Ideal Squandered by Terry Garlock

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 And It’s Effects by Dan Bryan

Is America A ‘Nation on The Take?’ by Wendell Potter and Nick Penniman

How Trump Has Proved The Founders Right by HW Brands

America’s Critical Period

The Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783

The Annapolis Convention of 1786

The Philadelphia Convention of 1787

Myths of The American Revolution by John Furling

Revisiting The Fabric of American Empire by Alex Cacloppo

The Anti-Federalist Papers

Constitution Day

The Ninth Pillar, Massachusetts Centinel, 25 June 1788

Loyalists of the American Revolutionary War

The Culper Ring

The Sons of Liberty

The US Constitution: Tool of Centralization and Debt, 1788-Today by Gary North

The Federalist Papers

The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

I spent a great deal of time on the thematic introduction, which appears as two paragraphs of flavor text, each separated by a dramatic question. This was the first step into the game world, and it was also a hint at how the game content would be introduced.

I searched diligently for a plausible historical jump-off, and found one in a fictional organization called the Council that was opposed to the ratification of the Constitution. Inspired by the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it also gave me the perfect hook for a sequel.

Did I say sequel? Yes I did. Even though Acts of Liberty had been designed as a one-off, every good writer leaves loopholes for a possible sequel to avoid painting themselves into a corner. The blueprints were laid out if I ever needed to go back down that road.

I never wanted to get a letter that read, “Apes exist, sequel required.”

In the game and system introduction, the players learn that Prototype is inspired by the classic kishōtenketsu narrative structure, and that conflict resolution isn’t the focus. The players are empowered to create stories using exposition and contrast to build the interest. The introduction also provides an overview of the gameplay and setting without requiring the players to digest the entire document to decide if it’s their kind of game or not.

I’d intended to include the game and system version numbers on page two, just below the credits. But, due to the always-looming space limitations, it had to be cut. As published, the release version of the game is 485, and the Prototype System version is Gen 1.

Page Three

The section for game setup provides the players with flavor text that applies to their immediate situation, and includes a quote by Rufus King of the Massachusetts Delegate, who voiced concerns about how, in the wrong hands, the journals of the Second Continental Congress could be used to resist or undo the ratification of the Constitution. It’s another great historical link with dramatic implications.

While not specifically stated, it’s a good idea if each player has a copy of the game, which will result in a more smooth and fluid gameplay experience.

The game setup section briefly explores the use of cards, tokens and the optional jokers. Originally, Prototype had a hard lock on the drawing of cards, and didn’t allow discards. Each card was accounted for in a four player game. The downside was the stockpile of cards that each player would accumulate. It was during a late design rewrite that I abandoned that mechanism and adopted a discard feature in order to free up more cards to facilitate the active and passive character roles.

The card suits introduce story element archetypes as descriptors that are specific to the act in which the card is drawn. An idea I had early on was to allow the players to play as historical figures, such as George or Martha Washington. However, it introduced multiple instances of the same character, which in the context of the game was illogical. The fix was a switch to archetypes, which made thematic sense, and created headroom for the players to construct elements that were their own. It was a good choice, as it meshed with the world building gameplay and underscored the game mantra, “more storytelling possibilities.”

For the card values, I opted to go with interrogative pronouns who, what, where, when, why, and how that repeated twice per drawn card. However, there were 13 card values, and I was one pronoun short. To repeat a pronoun again was a cheap fix that I wasn’t fond of. Therefore, I had to go back and look at the less-popular pronouns that quite frankly didn’t offer the flexibility of the five that I was already using. The solution was the pronoun determiner which. While it was a binary either/or question, it was leagues better than a simple yes/no question. As an added bonus, the card value I needed it for was the queen, and I found delight in affixing that particular pronoun to her as a hidden play on words.

When designing a game system on the cheap, it’s ideal to use components that the players already have such as tokens. I used pennies during the design of Prototype, but the players could use anything. The tokens are a resource that can be spent to perform a number of tasks. They can be used by the active players to draw more cards to introduce game details that enhance their story elements. The tokens can also be spent by the active and passive players to unlock evidence and witness tampering, affecting the elements and testimonies that the characters are introducing. I was thoroughly pleased with giving the players another choice to make, even if it wasn’t their turn to push the story forward. Each player would have a chance to stand at the crossroads and decide whether to spend tokens to draw more cards, change the evidence of a testimony, or introduce a witness that offered an outside (and possibly contradictory) testimony.

The inclusion of the jokers presented a unique challenge. Should I make them optional or not include them at all? I spent a bit of time working on that answer. Rather than write them out of the game altogether, which was a last-ditch plan, I worked out how they could be best served in the game. A feature I wanted to implement from day one was a concept called the super element, a powerful story construct that affected all narratives. Like any unique aspect of gameplay, it had a number of conditions that had to be worked out. What card sequence were they drawn? What act did they appear in? Who could define them? In the end, I made them optional, but powerful.

Page 3 ends with the game play section, which provides a brief overview of the sequence of play and serves as the point where the game is launched. It’s also the place where active and passive characters are first mentioned. By this point in the instructions, the players should have a solid idea of what the game was about.

Something that came up during playtesting was that I hadn’t included a method to select who goes first, which I felt was a bit gimmicky. Two things worked against its inclusion: the page was already maxed out, and due to the complexity of the game, I took a chance that the players could probably figure that part out for themselves.

Page Four and Five

The next two pages are gameplay examples that take a close look as a player progresses through acts one through four. It also provides definitions for the categories of descriptors that each card suit introduces. This section gives gameplay examples and details the card suit descriptor categories, which change with each act. Conversely, the card value descriptor categories remain the same. I also provided character testimonies in the form of block quotes that reflect the actual cards that were used in the examples.

Page Six

This section goes into a lot of detail about the evidence and witness tampering sub-system that active and passive players can utilize to change character testimonies. In the wake of the first playtest, I determined that a mechanism involving primacy would be scrapped, and then got to work on what would replace it. Evidence and witness tampering explores the active and passive character modes, with the active characters providing testimonies, and the passive characters attempting to alter them. I explored activities that took place in a real courtroom and what pre-constitutional trials looked like. I also borrowed from my original concept of primacy that centered on the notion of an unreliable narrator. The active characters would now be free to change the elements of their testimony, and the passive characters would be free to try and discredit them. Two interesting features that came out of this section that changed the way the game was played: the destruction of evidence by an active player required a discard mechanism, and the eyewitness/victim mechanism required the drawing of additional cards that, in effect, created a kind of sidekick.

I wanted the tampering of evidence or witnesses to have an offset or a penalty. If you were going to spend tokens to change testimonies or introduce witnesses, you wouldn’t be able to spend tokens to develop your own testimony during that act. I felt it provided different ways to play the game and opened up emergent strategies that the players could explore.

Page Seven

Page seven goes into detail about how the tokens are used, gameplay specifics involving the optional super elements, ending the game, optional rules, and a gameplay overview.

One scenario that came up during the first playtest was if a player ran out of tokens during the construction of a super element. This was resolved by allowing any active player to develop the super element on their turn during the act in which it was drawn.

Another bit of feedback I got was that I hadn’t included a proper “game” ending. There weren’t any victory conditions, and there wasn’t a way to declare a winner. This was by design and went back to the classic kishōtenketsu narrative structure, which was a major inspiration. I determined that, while the characters could construct their own endings, there would be no conflict resolution. There’s no reward to claim or lose. An exception would be if a character chose to destroy evidence. Thanks to the evidence and witness tampering mechanism that removed it, the action would in all likelihood result in it being replaced by something else. In other words, a bad thing is more than likely still going to happen.

Four optional rules are included that served to enhance the storytelling and increase the replayability. The first negates the rollover of unused tokens to eliminate big spending. The second rule forces the construction of super elements instead of a player’s own story elements. The third rule replaces the jokers with a one token draw that combines with any other card. And the last rule replaces absent players with additional witnesses and victims that are connected to specific incursions.

Lastly, the game overview recaps the steps from starting the game to concluding the story.

Pages 8 Thru 11

These are the game charts that the players will use to construct their story elements and narratives. Each chart features modified graphics that are taken from the page headers. The concept of a 1st card, 2nd card, 3rd card was part of the design since the beginning, and was linked to the tokens. It was always planned to give the players the option to take a free first card and then have the players choose to spend tokens to draw cards and add more details. The 1st card deals in the past, the 2nd card pertains to the present or the immediate future, and the 3rd card involves unknowns from the past or the future.

Each chart is attached to an act, so the first act is always specific to the development of characters, the second act is always the development of the terrains, and so on. As the game progresses through the acts, so do the charts advance. Once an act is concluded, there’s no going back. An aspect of kishōtenketsu that was adapted for gameplay was how, in the source framework, major changes to the introduction and detail don’t occur after the second act. In the context of Acts of Liberty, each act introduces its own content that builds on the story elements and details revealed within that act, which in turn build on the events of prior acts. This happens continuously, and is not limited to the second act.

The charts also feature authentic quotes that reflect the historical tone of the era, and the theme of each act.

The End of The Story

This companion to Acts of Liberty marks the official end of development for the game and Prototype System (Gen 1). The story of the Council and its four suspects has been told, and will yield different conclusions with each telling. As I’ve said, it’s entirely possible that I may again return to this setting at some point to publish advanced world charts or a sequel that uses this version of Prototype. Or, perhaps, in Gen 2.

Until then, I leave the world of 1788 on the precipice of justice, and in your capable hands.

Acts of Liberty was borne out of a conversation about recital of the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom, which led to research about US citizenship requirements and ultimately, the Constitution. From that point, it was relatively easy to find lots of source material to create a thematic jump off. I chose the kishōtenketsu four act narrative structure as the inspiration for my storytelling framework, and that’s when the title came into view.

The Prototype System takes the beginning-middle-twist-ending formula, moves the familiar conflict resolution element to the periphery, and refocuses on contrast and exposition. In each act, content is introduced that builds on or alters established story developments.

The clock is turned back to the summer of 1788, on the eve of the ratification of the Constitution. 2-4 players take on the roles of characters, everyday citizens who are suspected of crimes against the state. Brought before an authoritarian judicial league known as the Council, their stories unfold.

Acts of Liberty is a tabletop storytelling rpg that includes the rules and game charts. All you need is a deck of playing cards and a handful of tokens.

ARTICLE I

Beginning with act one, the players take turns constructing their characters. There are four different archetypes: artisan, farmer, merchant, and soldier. Prototype allows multiple instances of an archetype to increase the story complexity. At the beginning of the act, each player draws a 1st card and refers to the world blueprint chart to build a character.

The card suits introduce nearly 50 different kinds of descriptors that reveal facts about the characters. In act one, drawing 2nd and 3rd cards reveals dispositions and knowledge that further define their characters.

The starting player is an active character providing a testimony from the perspective of a suspect who is accused of a crime against the state. All other players become passive characters who represent witnesses that can interact with the suspect’s testimony.

Suspects can spend tokens to draw additional cards to reveal more story, or they can engage in evidence tampering in order to conceal, fabricate, or destroy parts of their own testimony.

Witnesses can spend tokens to alter a suspect’s testimony through witness tampering in order to bribe or coerce, introduce an eyewitness or victim testimony, or provide hostile or contrary statements.

When each character has concluded their testimony, the act ends.

ARTICLE II

Gameplay rotates clockwise to the next player who becomes a suspect, continuing as before until each player has had a chance to narrate as both suspect and witness.

In act two, the players take turns constructing their terrains. There are four different archetypes: coastal, mountain, prairie, and swamp. At the beginning of the act, each player draws a 1st card and refers to the world blueprint chart to build a terrain.

By drawing a 2nd or 3rd card, players can reveal conditions and influences that further define their terrains.

Gameplay continues in the same manner as before, with each player shifting between the roles of suspect and witness, contributing and affecting testimonies that build on the events that were established in act one.

When each character has concluded their testimony, the act ends.

ARTICLE III

As before, gameplay rotates clockwise to the next player who becomes a suspect, and continues until each character has provided statements or altered testimonies as both suspect and witness.

In act three, the players take turns constructing their incursions. There are four different archetypes: family, military, nobility, and tribunal. At the beginning of the act, each player draws a 1st card and refers to the world blueprint chart to build an incursion.

With the drawing a 2nd or 3rd card, players can further define their incursions by revealing disruptions and perceptions.

Again each player shifts between the roles of suspect and witness, contributing and affecting testimonies that build on the events that were established in acts one and two.

When each character has concluded their testimony, act three ends.

ARTICLE IV

In the final act, gameplay rotates clockwise to the next player who becomes a suspect, and continues until each character has provided statements or affected testimonies as both suspect and witness.

Act four has the characters taking turns to construct their judgements. There are four different archetypes: allegiance, condemn, pardon, and treachery. At the start of the act, each player draws a 1st card and refers to the world blueprint chart to build a judgment.

By drawing a 2nd or 3rd card, players can further define their judgments by revealing impressions and reflections.

Each player shifts between the roles of suspect and witness, weighing the outcome of the changes to acts one and two that were made by the incursions of acts three.

When each character has offered a final testimony, the game concludes.

CLOSING ENDORSEMENT

Acts of Liberty takes place in a sandbox storytelling environment where the characters stand accused of crimes. Over the course of four acts, they can reveal or alter evidence and testimonies that create a complex and interconnected drama.

AMENDMENTS

In addition, the game also includes:

Super Elements, global constructs that affect all narratives.

4 optional gameplay expanding rules.

JUDICIAL REVIEW

It’s a subtle yet compelling tabletop game. Explore the court of the Council, and witness the dark crucible of justice that threatens the birth of democracy in early America.

As 2016 comes to a close, I’m sipping a cold Black Cherry Original New York Seltzer and reflecting on the events that have filled up this year.

It’s been a wonderful and, at times, difficult journey.

First off, I’d like to express my gratitude and appreciation for my family and friends who helped me cross the finish line with my first game, Acts of Liberty, which has been released.

I work two jobs and have a child, so it’s not always possible, nor is it always desireable, to sit in front of a screen for hours upon hours and chip away at a game product. Not that I’m complaining, because I’m not. I enjoy a very rewarding personal and professional life outside of 1000mg Games; I only mention this as context when I reflect on how long I’ve been working on AoL and Prototype. Which has been a long time.

What that time provided was a (mostly) enjoyable development process that allowed me to research the best layout, narrative framework, subject matter, and production value that would fit my needs and goals. And looking back, I can honestly say that I was successful.

Thank you to my daughter Sofia, for her patience and understanding during the times I desperately had to focus on writing. Her love of games and world building is nearly as strong as mine, yet she was quite happy to hear me announce that the project had been completed. Perhaps even more than I was to say it.

I owe a big thanks to my friends Dan and Gina Stafford, who shared their time and energy to get me back on track. To Dan, for motivating me to climb out of a conceptual gravity well back in the spring, and escape from a development hell of my own making.

And to his wife Gina, for her invaluable contributions during the Phase 1 Playtest over the summer. She helped me to think about what would replace a victory condition in a game without conflict resolution, and to revisit “the mechanic must compliment the narrative.”

I uploaded the finished game at 11:45 pm PST on 12/25, just ahead of my year end deadline. By about that much. I am wiser in that I know how much work I can complete in one year.

On the horizon for 2017 are two more games: at least one more Prototype System game, and the debut of a new game system and Kickstarter. It’ll be a glorious year to play.

I want to offer my sincere thanks to my fans, followers, and friends, whether here, on Twitter, or G+. I truly appreciate your support and attention.

Oh yeah. One more thing. Monica Valentinelli once said that if, while visiting a website, she couldn’t easily find a link to the product she would leave within mere minutes.

1000mg Games has announced the release of Acts of Liberty, a new roleplaying game using the Prototype System. Acts of Liberty is a story roleplaying game for 2-4 players that takes place in an alternate history. Over the course of four acts, each player assumes the dual role of both suspect and witness as they take turns revealing evidence and building testimonies in an interactive environment.

Cast as both suspect and witness, the players are caught in the crossfire of a democratic movement and an existential threat that seeks to undermine the promise of freedom during the waning days of a pre-Constitutional America. In the uncertain days before ratification, Loyalists, anti-Federalists, and profiteers are reporting their own neighbors for a few coins. Accused of crimes against the state, the players now stand before the Council, a rogue judicial syndicate.

Using the included world blueprint charts, players collaborate or go it alone to combine archetype story elements such as characters, terrains, incursions, and judgments with dozens of descriptors and over 150 interrogatives. No two story elements are alike.

Inspired by the classic kishōtenketsu narrative structure, the Prototype System relegates conflict resolution to the periphery, and explores the contrast of unique story elements, narrative-bending twists, and dramatic conclusions. All you need to play is a deck of playing cards and a few tokens.

Acts of Liberty is the first game to utilize the Prototype System, with more planned for release in 2017.

Before embarking on a vacation to Arkansas, I had managed to whittle down the to-do list for my first game Acts of Liberty to about three items. I felt like it was in a fairly sturdy condition and ready for the first playtest. Right. Afterward, it became apparent that there were still a few things that needed to be refined.

Since then, my to-do list has ballooned again to about 17 items. Which means I’ll be working hard to iron out those wrinkles and prepare for the Phase 2 Playtest. In the meantime, here’s a peek at the cover art:

In November of 2015, I retreated to develop a tabletop rpg system and the first title that it would feature. I shut everything down and told myself no incremental updates or teasers until I had something substantial to report. During that blackout time, I halted work on all of my other projects and spontaneous flavors of the month to hunker down, work out the details, and get the damn thing done. I can now see light at the end of the long tunnel, which means development is almost over.

It’s been an incredibly rewarding and educational ride.

When I started this studio in 2014, I had just completed a stint working on half of the Post World Games series 1 Protocols, and a handful of titles that appeared in series 2. I came away from that experience with a strong desire to tell my own stories, and began my search for an interesting architecture that I could incorporate or reinterpret into an enjoyable game system. In the following months, I stumbled upon kishōtenketsu, a classic narrative structure that was used to explore plots without conflict resolution.

Kishōtenketsu has been around for a very long time to say the least, and is featured in many popular art forms such as poetry, manga, and video games. Around 2012, there was a flurry of attention centered around employing it in tabletop rpgs, but then suddenly the topic died off. My research led me to believe it had remained under utilized. In fact, the only game I could find that used the structure was in what would become the second version of Raspberry Heaven by Yaruki Zero Games. In my estimate, the field was wide open, and in late 2015 I chose it as the inspiration for my system.

To be fair, others had shopped kishōtenketsu as a narrative platform for rpgs. However, the overarching opinion was that it was dull or impossible to implement. More popular storytelling frameworks included conflict resolution, and this didn’t have it. The truth was, in Kishōtenketsu there could be conflict, but resolution would not be the focus. I found this to be appealing. Also, the component parts were simple and linear, and could support a variety of themes and dramatic elements.

Right now, the completion of my first game looms on the horizon. I’ll be posting more details in the coming days as we head toward its release, so stay tuned.